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MMSSIANDISfl 




f&dswarifr 



fi.M.C*Jdwen Co. 
Sew York™* 'Boston. 



Copyright % 1909 
By H. M. Caldwell Co. 



LIBKARY of CONGRESS 


Two CodIcs Received 


JUN 5 


1808 


/1 Copyngnt Entry 
'CLASS A XXc no. 

-lHI ^f 

9 COPY 9.' 






The Courtship of 
Miles Standish 



Contents 

» 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Miles Standish . . • . i 
II. Love and Friendship • .11 

III. The Lover's Errand ... 22 

IV. John Alden 39 

V. The Sailing of the " May- 
flower" 55 

VI. Priscilla 71 

VII. The March of Miles Stan- 
dish 82 

VIII. The Spinning-Wheel ... 94 

IX. The Wedding-Day . . . 106 



The Courtship of 
Miles Standish 



MILES STANDISH 

TN the Old Colony days, in Plymouth 

the land of the Pilgrims, 
To and fro in a room of his simple and 

primitive dwelling, 
Clad in doublet and hose, and boots of 

Cordovan leather, 
Strode, with a martial air, Miles 

Standish the Puritan Captain. 
Buried in thought he seemed, with his 

hands behind him, and pausing 
Ever and anon to behold his glittering 

weapons of warfare, 
1 



-£H The Courtship of 

Hanging in shining array along the 

walls of the chamber, — 
Cutlass and corselet of steel, and his 

trusty sword of Damascus, 
Curved at the point and inscribed 

with its mystical Arabic sentence, 
While underneath, in a corner, were 

fowling-piece, musket, and match- 
lock. 
Short of stature he was, but strongly 

built and athletic, 
Broad in the shoulders, deep-chested, 

with muscles and sinews of 

iron; 
Brown as a nut was his face, but his 

russet beard was already 
Flaked with patches of snow, as hedges 

sometimes in November. 
Near him was seated John Alden, his 

friend and household companion, 
2 



Miles Standish Hr 

Writing with diligent speed at a table 
of pine by the window; 

Fair-haired, azure-eyed, with delicate 
Saxon complexion, 

Having the dew of his youth, and the 
beauty thereof, as the captives 

Whom Saint Gregory saw, and ex- 
claimed, " Not Angles but Angels." 

Youngest of all was he of the men who 
came in the Mayflower. 

Suddenly breaking the silence, the 
diligent scribe interrupting, 

Spake, in the pride of his heart, Miles 
Standish the Captain of Ply- 
mouth. 

" Look at these arms," he said, " the 
warlike weapons that hang here, 

Burnished and bright and clean, as if 
for parade or inspection! 

3 - 



#4 The Courtship of 

This is the sword of Damascus I fought 
with in Flanders; this breast- 
plate, 

Well I remember the day! once saved 
my life in a skirmish; 

Here in front you can see the very dint 
of the bullet 

Fired point-blank at my heart by a 
Spanish arcabucero. 

Had it not been of sheer steel, the for- 
gotten bones of Miles Standish 

Would at this moment be mould, in 
their grave in the Flemish mo- 
rasses." 

Thereupon answered John Alden, but 
looked not up from his writing: 

w Truly the breath of the Lord hath 
slackened the speed of the bullet; 

He in His mercy preserved you, to be 
our shield and our weapon! " 

4 



Miles Standish S# 

Still the Captain continued, unheeding 

the words of the stripling: 
" See, how bright they are burnished, 

as if in an arsenal hanging; 
That is because I have done it myself, 

and not left it to others. 
Serve yourself, would you be well 

served, is an excellent adage; 
So I take care of my arms, as you of 

your pens and your inkhorn. 
Then, too, there are my soldiers, my 

great, invincible army, 
Twelve men, all equipped, having each 

his rest and his matchlock, 
Eighteen shillings a month, together 

with diet and pillage, 
And, like Caesar, I know the name of 

each of my soldiers! " 
This he said with a smile, that danced 

in his eyes, as the sunbeams 

5 



±k£ 



The Courtship of 



Dance on the waves of the sea, and 

vanish again in a moment. 
Alden laughed as he wrote, and still 

the Captain continued: 
" Look! you can see from this window 

my brazen howitzer planted 
High on the roof of the church, a 

preacher who speaks to the purpose, 
Steady, straightforward, and strong, 

with irresistible logic, 
Orthodox, flashing conviction right into 

the hearts of the heathen. 
Now we are ready, I think, for any 

assault of the Indians: 
Let them come, if they like, and the 

sooner they try it the better, — 
Let them come if they like, be it saga- 
more, sachem, or pow-wow, 
Aspinet, Samoset, Corbitant, Squanto, 

or Tokamahamon! " 
6 



Miles Standish *# 

Long at the window he stood, and 

wistfully gazed on the landscape, 
Washed with a cold gray mist, the 

vapory breath of the east wind, 
Forest and meadow and hill, and the 

steel-blue rim of the ocean, 
Lying silent and sad, in the afternoon 

shadows and sunshine. 
Over his countenance flitted a shadow 

like those on the landscape, 
Gloom intermingled with light; and his 

voice was subdued with emotion, 
Tenderness, pity, regret, as after a 

pause he proceeded: 
" Yonder there, on the hill by the sea, 

lies buried Rose Standish; 
Beautiful rose of love, that bloomed for 

me by the wayside! 
She was the first to die of all who came 

in the Mayflower ! 

7 



## The Courtship of 

Green above her is growing the field of 
wheat we have sown there, 

Better to hide from the Indian scouts 
the graves of our people, 

Lest they should count them and see 
how many already have perished! " 

Sadly his face he averted, and strode 
up and down, and was thought- 
ful. 

Fixed to the opposite wall was a 
shelf of books, and among them 

Prominent three, distinguished alike 
for bulk and for binding; 

BarifFe's Artillery Guide and the Com- 
mentaries of Ccesar, 

Out of the Latin translated by Arthur 
Goldinge of London, 

And, as if guarded by these, between 
them was standing the Bible. 
8 



Miles Standish Hr 

Musing a moment before them, Miles 

Standish paused, as if doubtful 
Which of the three he should choose 

for his consolation and comfort, 
Whether the wars of the Hebrews, the 

famous campaigns of the Romans, 
Or the artillery practice, designed for 

belligerent Christians. 
Finally down from its shelf he dragged 

the ponderous Roman, 
Seated himself at the window, and 

opened the book, and in silence 
Turned o'er the well-worn leaves, where 

thumb-marks thick on the margin, 
Like the trample of feet, proclaimed the 

battle was hottest. 
Nothing was heard in the room but the 

hurrying pen of the stripling, 
Busily writing epistles important, to go 

by the May-flower, 

9 



^k The Courtship of 

Ready to sail on the morrow, or next 

day at latest, God willing! 
Homeward bound with the tidings of 

all that terrible winter, 
Letters written by Alden, and full of 

the name of Priscilla, 
Full of the name and the fame of the 

Puritan maiden Priscilla! 



10 



Miles Standish 



^ 



II 

LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP 

"^TOTHING was heard in the room 
but the hurrying pen of the 
stripling, 
Or an occasional sigh from the laboring 

heart of the Captain, 
Reading the marvellous words and 

achievements of Julius Caesar. 
After a while he exclaimed, as he smote 

with his hand, palm downwards, 
Heavily on the page : " A wonderful 

man was this Caesar! 
You are a writer, and I am a fighter, 
but here is a fellow 
n 



-SH The Courtship of 

Who could both write and fight, and in 

both was equally skilful ! " 
Straightway answered and spake John 

Alden, the comely, the youthful: 
" Yes, he was equally skilled, as you 

say, with his pen and his weapons. 
Somewhere have I read, but where I 

forget, he could dictate 
Seven letters at once, at the same time 

writing his memoirs." 
" Truly," continued the Captain, not 

heeding or hearing the other, 
" Truly a wonderful man was Caius 

Julius Caesar! 
Better be first, he said, in a little 

Iberian village, 
Than be second in Rome, and I think 

he was right when he said it. 
Twice was he married before he was 

twenty, and many times after; 
12 



Miles Standish H£ 

Battles five hundred he fought, and 
a thousand cities he conquered; 

He, too, fought in Flanders, as he him- 
self has recorded; 

Finally he was stabbed by his friend, 
the orator Brutus! 

Now, do you know what he did on a 
certain occasion in Flanders, 

When the rear-guard of his army re- 
treated, the front giving way too, 

And the immortal Twelfth Legion was 
crowded so closely together 

There was no room for their swords ? 
Why, he seized a shield from a 
soldier, 

Put himself straight at the head of his 
troops, and commanded the cap- 
tains, 

Calling on each by his name, to order 
forward the ensigns; 

J 3 



«SH The Courtship of 

Then to widen the ranks, and give 

more room for their weapons; 
So he won the day, the battle of some- 

thing-or-other. 
That's what I always say ; if you wish 

a thing to be well done, 
You must do it yourself, you must not 

leave it to others! " 



All was silent again; the Captain 

continued his reading. 
Nothing was heard in the room but the 

hurrying pen of the stripling 
Writing epistles important to go next 

day by the Mayflower, 
Filled with the name and the fame of 

the Puritan maiden Priscilla; 
Every sentence began or closed with 

the name of Priscilla, 

14 



Miles Standish t# 

Till the treacherous pen, to which he 

confided the secret, 
Strove to betray it by singing and 

shouting the name of Priscilla! 
Finally closing his book, with a bang 

of the ponderous cover, 
Sudden and loud as the sound of a 

soldier grounding his musket, 
Thus to the young man spake Miles 

Standish the Captain of Ply- 
mouth : 
" When you have finished your work, I 

have something important to tell 

you. 
Be not however in haste; I can wait; 

I shall not be impatient! " 
Straightway Alden replied, as he folded 

the last of his letters, 
Pushing his papers aside, and giving 

respectful attention: 

*5 



«£H The Courtship of 

" Speak; for whenever you speak, I 

am always ready to listen, 
Always ready to hear whatever pertains 

to Miles Standish." 
Thereupon answered the Captain, em- 
barrassed, and culling his phrases: 
" 'Tis not good for a man to be alone, 

say the Scriptures. 
This I have said before, and again and 

again I repeat it; 
Every hour in the day, I think it, and 

feel it, and say it. 
Since Rose Standish died, my life has 

been weary and dreary; 
Sick at heart have I been, beyond the 

healing of friendship. 
Oft in my lonely hours have I thought 

of the maiden Priscilla. 
She is alone in the world; her father 

and mother and brother 
16 



Miles Standish ¥& 

Died in the winter together; I saw her 

going and coming, 
Now to the grave of the dead, and now 

to the bed of the dying, 
Patient, courageous, and strong, and 

said to myself, that if ever 
There were angels on earth, as there 

are angels in heaven, 
Two have I seen and known; and the 

angel whose name is Priscilla 
Holds in my desolate life the place 

which the other abandoned. 
Long have I cherished the thought, 

but never have dared to reveal it, 
Being a coward in this, though valiant 

enough for the most part. 
Go to the damsel Priscilla, the loveliest 

maiden of Plymouth, 
Say that a blunt old Captain, a man not 

of words but of actions, 

17 



<£H The Courtship of 

Offers his hand and his heart, the hand 

and heart of a soldier. 
Not in these words, you know, but this 

in short is my meaning; 
I am a maker of war, and not a maker 

of phrases. 
You, who are bred as a scholar, can say 

it in elegant language, 
Such as you read in your books of the 

pleadings and wooings of lovers, 
Such as you think best adapted to win 

the heart of a maiden. ,, 



When he had spoken, John Alden, 

the fair-haired, taciturn stripling, 

All aghast at his words, surprised, 

embarrassed, bewildered, 
Trying to mask his dismay by treating 
the subject with lightness, 
18 



Miles Standish |# 

Trying to smile, and yet feeling his 

heart stand still in his bosom, 
Just as a timepiece stops in a house 

that is stricken by lightning, 
Thus made answer and spake, or rather 

stammered than answered: 
" Such a message as that, I am sure I 

should mangle and mar it; 
If you would have it well done, — I am 

only repeating your maxim, — 
You must do it yourself, you must not 

leave it to others! " 
But with the air of a man whom nothing 

can turn from his purpose, 
Gravely shaking his head, made answer 

the Captain of Plymouth: 
" Truly the maxim is good, and I do 

not mean to gainsay it; 
But we must use it discreetly, and not 

waste powder for nothing. 

*9 



-SH The Courtship of 

Now, as I said before, I was never a 

maker of phrases. 
I can march up to a fortress and 

summon the place to surrender, 
But march up to a woman with such 

a proposal, I dare not. 
I'm not afraid of bullets, nor shot from 

the mouth of a cannon, 
But of a thundering ' No! ' point- 
blank from the mouth of a woman, 
That I confess I'm afraid of, nor am I 

ashamed to confess it! 
So you must grant my request, for you 

are an elegant scholar, 
Having the graces of speech, and skill 

in the turning of phrases." 
Taking the hand of his friend, who still 

was reluctant and doubtful, 
Holding it long in his own, and pressing 

it kindly, he added: 
20 



Miles Standish Hr 

" Though I have spoken thus lightly, 

yet deep is the feeling that prompts 

me; 
Surely you cannot refuse what I ask 

in the name of our friendship! " 
Then made answer John Alden: " The 

name of friendship is sacred; 
What you demand in that name, I 

have not the power to deny you! " 
So the strong will prevailed, subduing 

and moulding the gentler, 
Friendship prevailed over love, and 

Alden went on his errand. 



21 



$H The Courtship of 



III 

THE LOVER'S ERRAND 

QO the strong will prevailed, and 
Alden went on his errand, 

Out of the street of the village, and into 
the paths of the forest, 

Into the tranquil woods, where blue- 
birds and robins were building 

Towns in the populous trees, with 
hanging gardens of verdure, 

Peaceful, aerial cities of joy and affection 
and freedom. 

All around him was calm, but within 
him commotion and conflict, 

Love contending with friendship, and 
self with each generous impulse. 
22 



Miles Standish *# 



To and fro in his breast his thoughts 

were heaving and dashing, 
As in a foundering ship, with every 

roll of the vessel, 
Washes the bitter sea, the merciless 

surge of the ocean! 
" Must I relinquish it all," he cried 

with a wild lamentation, — 
" Must I relinquish it all, the joy, the 

hope, the illusion ? 
Was it for this I have loved, and waited, 

and worshipped in silence ? 
Was it for this I have followed the 

flying feet and the shadow 
Over the wintry sea, to the desolate 

shores of New England ? 
Truly the heart is deceitful, and out of 

its depths of corruption 
Rise, like an exhalation, the misty 

phantoms of passion; 

2 3 






The Courtship of 



Angels of light they seem, but are only 
delusions of Satan. 

All is clear to me now; I feel it, I see 
it distinctly! 

This is the hand of the Lord; it is 
laid upon me in anger, 

For I have followed too much the 
heart's desires and devices, 

Worshipping Astaroth blindly, and im- 
pious idols of Baal. 

This is the cross I must bear; the sin 
and the swift retribution." 

So through the Plymouth woods John 
Alden went on his errand; 
Crossing the brook at the ford,' where 
it brawled over pebble and shal- 
low, 
Gathering still, as he went, the May- 
flowers blooming around him, 
24 



Miles Standish H£ 

Fragrant, filling the air with a strange 

and wonderful sweetness, 
Children lost in the woods, and covered 

with leaves in their slumber. 
" Puritan flowers," he said, " and the 

type of Puritan maidens, 
Modest and simple and sweet, the very 

type of Priscilla! 
So I will take them to her; to Priscilla 

the Mayflower of Plymouth, 
Modest and simple and sweet, as a 

parting gift will I take them; 
Breathing their silent farewells, as they 

fade and wither and perish, 
Soon to be thrown away as is the heart 

of the giver." 
So through the Plymouth woods John 

Alden went on his errand; 
Came to an open space, and saw the 

disk of the ocean, 

25 



iH The Courtship of 

Sailless, sombre and cold with the 

comfortless breath of the east wind; 
Saw the new-built house, and people 

at work in a meadow; 
Heard, as he drew near the door, the 

musical voice of Priscilla 
Singing the hundredth Psalm, the grand 

old Puritan anthem, 
Music that Luther sang to the sacred 

words of the Psalmist, 
Full of the breath of the Lord, con- 
soling and comforting many. 
Then, as he opened the door, he beheld 

the form of the maiden 
Seated beside her wheel, and the carded 

wool like a snow-drift, 
Piled at her knee, her white hands 

feeding the ravenous spindle, 
While with her foot on the treadle she 

guided the wheel in its motion. 
26 



Miles Standish H£ 

Open wide on her lap lay the well- 
worn psalm-book of Ainsworth, 
Printed in Amsterdam, the words and 

the music together, 
Rough-hewn, angular notes, like stones 

in the wall of a churchyard, 
Darkened and overhung by the running 

vine of the verses. 
Such was the book from whose pages 

she sang the old Puritan anthem, 
She, the Puritan girl, in the solitude of 

the forest, 
Making the humble house and the 

modest apparel of homespun 
Beautiful with her beauty, and rich 

with the wealth of her being! 
Over him rushed, like a wind that is 

keen and cold and relentless, 
Thoughts of what might have been, and 

the weight and woe of his errand; 
27 



«£H The Courtship of 

All the dreams that had faded, and all 

the hopes that had vanished, 
All his life henceforth a dreary and 

tenantless mansion, 
Haunted by vain regrets, and pallid, 

sorrowful faces. 
Still he said to himself, and almost 

fiercely he said it, 
" Let not him that putteth his hand to 

the plough look backwards; 
Though the ploughshare cut through 

the flowers of life to its fountains, 
Though it pass o'er the graves of 

the dead and the hearts of the 

living, 
It is the will of the Lord; and His 

mercy endureth forever! " 

So he entered the house; and the 
hum of the wheel and the singing 
28 



Miles Standish £# 

Suddenly ceased; for Priscilla, aroused 

by his step on the threshold, 
Rose as he entered and gave him her 

hand, in signal of welcome, 
Saying, " I knew it was you, when I 

heard your step in the passage; 
For I was thinking of you, as I sat 

there singing and spinning." 
Awkward and dumb with delight, that 

a thought of him had been mingled 
Thus in the sacred Psalm, that came 

from the heart of the maiden, 
Silent before her he stood, and gave her 

the flowers for an answer, 
Finding no words for his thought. He 

remembered that day in the winter, 
After the first great snow, when he 

broke a path from the village, 
Reeling and plunging along through the 

drifts that encumbered the doorway, 
29 



#? The Courtship of 

Stamping the snow from his feet as he 

entered the house, and Priscilla 
Laughed at his snowy locks, and gave 

him a seat by the fireside, 
Grateful and pleased to know he had 

thought of her in the snowstorm. 
Had he but spoken then! perhaps not 

in vain had he spoken; 
Now it was all too late; the golden 

moment had vanished! 
So he stood there abashed, and gave her 

the flowers for an answer. 



Then they sat down and talked of 
the birds and the beautiful Spring- 
time; 
Talked of their friends at home, and 
the May-flower that sailed on the 
morrow. 

3o 



Miles Standish |fe 

" I have been thinking all day," said 

gently the Puritan maiden, 
u Dreaming all night, and thinking 

all day, of the hedgerows of 

England, — 
They are in blossom now, and the 

country is all like a garden; 
Thinking of lanes and fields, and the 

song of the lark and the lin- 
net, 
Seeing the village street, and familiar 

faces of neighbors 
Going about as of old, and stopping to 

gossip together, 
And, at the end of the street, the village 

church, with the ivy 
Climbing the old gray tower, and the 

quiet graves in the churchyard. 
Kind are the people I live with, and 

dear to me my religion; 

3* 



■£H The Courtship of 

Still my heart is so sad, that I wish 
myself back in Old England. 

You will say it is wrong, but I cannot 
help it: I almost 

Wish myself back in Old England, I 
feel so lonely and wretched/* 



Thereupon answered the youth: 
" Indeed I do not condemn you; 

Stouter hearts than a woman's have 
quailed in this terrible winter. 

Yours is tender and trusting, and needs 
a stronger to lean on; 

So I have come to you now, with 
an offer and proffer of mar- 
riage 

Made by a good man and true, Miles 
Standish the Captain of Ply- 
mouth! " 

32 



Miles Standish £# 

Thus he delivered his message, the 
dexterous writer of letters, — 

Did not embellish the theme, nor 
array it in beautiful phrases, 

But came straight to the point, and 
blurted it out like a school- 
boy; 

Even the Captain himself could hardly 
have said it more bluntly. 

Mute with amazement and sorrow, 
Priscilla the Puritan maiden 

Looked into Alden's face, her eyes 
dilated with wonder, 

Feeling his words like a blow, that 
stunned her and rendered her 
speechless; 

Till at length she exclaimed, interrupt- 
ing the ominous silence: 

" If the great Captain of Plymouth is 
so very eager to wed me, 

33 



-SH The Courtship of 

Why does he not come himself, and take 

the trouble to woo me ? 
If I am not worth the wooing, I surely 

am not worth the winning! " 
Then John Alden began explaining and 

smoothing the matter, 
Making it worse as he went, by saying 

the Captain was busy, — 
Had no time for such things; — such 

things! the words grating harshly 
Fell on the ear of Priscilla; and swift 

as a flash she made answer: 
" Has he no time for such things, 

as you call it, before he is mar- 
ried, 
Would he be likely to find it, or make it, 

after the wedding? 
That is the way with you men; you 

don't understand us, you cai»- 

not. 

34 



Miles Standish H£ 

When you have made up your minds, 
after thinking of this one and that 
one, 

Choosing, selecting, rejecting, com- 
paring one with another, 

Then you make known your desire, 
with abrupt and sudden avowal, 

And are offended and hurt, and in- 
dignant perhaps, that a woman 

Does not respond at once to a love that 
she never suspected, 

Does not attain at a bound the height 
to which you have been climb- 
ing. 

This is not right nor just: for surely 
a woman's affection 

Is not a thing to be asked for, and had 
for only the asking. 

When one is truly in love, one not only 
says it but shows it. 

35 



#3 The Courtship of 

Had he but waited awhile, had he only 

showed that he loved me, 
Even this Captain of yours — who 

knows ? — at last might have won 

me, 
Old and rough as he is; but now it 

never can happen. " 

Still John Alden went on, unheeding 

the words of Priscilla, 
Urging the suit of his friend, explaining, 

persuading, expanding; 
Spoke of his courage and skill, and of 

all his battles in Flanders, 
How with the people of God he had 

chosen to suffer affliction, 
How, in return for his zeal, they had 

made him Captain of Plymouth; 
He was a gentleman born, could trace 

his pedigree plainly 

J6 



Miles Standish Hr 

Back to Hugh Standish of Duxbury 

Hall, in Lancashire, England, 
Who was the son of Ralph, and the 

grandson of Thurston de Standish; 
Heir unto vast estates, of which he was 

basely defrauded, 
Still bore the family arms, and had for 

his crest a cock argent, 
Combed and wattled gules, and all the 

rest of the blazon. 
He was a man of honor, of noble and 

generous nature; 
Though he was rough, he was kindly; 

she knew how during the winter 
He had attended the sick, with a hand 

as gentle as woman's; 
Somewhat hasty and hot, he could not 

deny it, and headstrong, 
Stern as a soldier might be, but hearty, 

and placable always, 

37 



#? The Courtship of 

Not to be laughed at and scorned, 
because he was little of stature; 

For he was great of heart, magnani- 
mous, courtly, courageous; 

Any woman in Plymouth, nay, any 
woman in England, 

Might be happy and proud to be called 
the wife of Miles Standish! 

But as he warmed and glowed, in 

his simple and eloquent language, 
Quite forgetful of self, and full of the 

praise of his rival, 
Archly the maiden smiled, and, with 

eyes overrunning with laughter, 
Said, in a tremulous voice, " Why don't 

you speak for yourself, John ? " 



38 



Miles Standish £# 



IV 

JOHN ALDEN 

TNTO the open air John Alden, per- 
plexed and bewildered, 

Rushed like a man insane, and wan- 
dered alone by the seaside; 

Paced up and down the sands, and bared 
his head to the east wind, 

Cooling his heated brow, and the fire 
and fever within him. 

Slowly, as out of the heavens, with 
apocalyptical splendors, 

Sank the City of God, in the vision of 
John the Apostle, 

So, with its cloudy walls of chrysolite, 
jasper, and sapphire, 

39 



•5H The Courtship of 

Sank the broad red sun, and over its 

turrets uplifted 
Glimmered the golden reed of the angel 

who measured the city. 

" Welcome, O wind of the East! " 
he exclaimed in his wild exultation, 

" Welcome, O wind of the East, from 
the caves of the misty Atlantic! 

Blowing o'er fields of dulse, and 
measureless meadows of sea-grass, 

Blowing o'er rocky wastes, and the 
grottos and gardens of ocean! 

Lay the cold, moist hand on my burn- 
ing forehead, and wrap me 

Close in thy garments of mist, to allay 
the fever within me! " 

Like an awakened conscience, the sea 
was moaning and tossing, 

40 



Miles Standish £# 

Beating remorseful and loud the mu- 
table sands of the seashore. 

Fierce in his soul was the struggle and 
tumult of passions contending; 

Love triumphant and crowned, and 
friendship wounded and bleed- 
ing* 

Passionate cries of desire, and impor- 
tunate pleadings of duty! 

" Is it my fault/' he said, " that the 
maiden has chosen between us ? 

Is it my fault that he failed, — my fault 
that I am the victor ? " 

Then within him there thundered a 
voice, like the voice of the Prophet: 

" It hath displeased the Lord !" — and 
he thought of David's transgres- 
sion, 

Bathsheba's beautiful face, and his 
friend in the front of the battle! 

4i 



#? The Courtship of 

Shame and confusion of guilt, and 
abasement and self-condemnation 

Overwhelmed him at once; and he 
cried in the deepest contrition: 

" It hath displeased the Lord! It is 
the temptation of Satan! " 

Then, uplifting his head, he looked 
at the sea, and beheld there 

Dimly the shadowy form of the May- 
flower riding at anchor, 

Rocked on the rising tide, and ready 
to sail on the morrow; 

Heard the voices of men through the 
mist, the rattle of cordage 

Thrown on the deck, the shouts of the 
mate, and the sailors' " Ay, ay, 
Sir! " 

Clear and distinct, but not loud, in the 
dripping air of tlje twilight. 
42 



Miles Standish S# 

Still for a moment he stood, and listened, 

and stared at the vessel, 
Then went hurriedly on, as one who, 

seeing a phantom, 
Stops, then quickens his pace, and 

follows the beckoning shadow. 
" Yes, it is plain to me now," he mur- 
mured; " the hand of the Lord is 
Leading me out of the land of darkness, 

the bondage of error, 
Through the sea, that shall lift the walls 

of its waters around me, 
Hiding me, cutting me off, from the 

cruel thoughts that pursue me. 
Back will I go o'er the ocean, this 

dreary land will abandon, 
Her whom I may not love, and him 

whom my heart has offended. 
Better to be in my grave in the green 

old churchyard in England, 

43 



-SH The Courtship of 

Close by my mother's side, and among 

the dust of my kindred; 
Better be dead and forgotten, than 

living in shame and dishonor! 
Sacred and safe and unseen, in the dark 

of the narrow chamber 
With me my secret shall lie, like a 

buried jewel that glimmers 
Bright on the hand that is dust, in the 

chambers of silence and darkness, — 
Yes, as the marriage ring of the great 

espousal hereafter! " 



Thus as he spake, he turned, in the 
strength of his strong resolution, 

Leaving behind him the shore, and 
hurried along in the twilight, 

Through the congenial gloom of the 
forest silent and sombre, 

44 



Miles Standish £# 

Till he beheld the lights in the seven 

houses of Plymouth, 
Shining like seven stars in the dusk and 

mist of the evening. 
Soon he entered his door, and found the 

redoubtable Captain 
Sitting alone, and absorbed in the 

martial pages of Caesar, 
Fighting some great campaign in Hai- 

nault or Brabant or Flanders. 
" Long have you been on your errand/' 

he said with a cheery demeanor, 
Even as one who is waiting an answer, 

and fears not the issue. 
" Not far off is the house, although 

the woods are between us; 
But you have lingered so long, that 

while you were going and coming 
I have fought ten battles and sacked 

and demolished a city. 

45 



-SH The Courtship of 

Come, sit down, and in order relate to 
me all that has happened." 

Then John Alden spake, and related 

the wondrous adventure 
From beginning to end, minutely, just 

as it happened; 
How he had seen Priscilla, and how he 

had sped in his courtship, 
Only smoothing a little, and softening 

down her refusal. 
But when he came at length to the 

words Priscilla had spoken, 
Words so tender and cruel, " Why don't 

you speak for yourself, John ? " 
Up leaped the Captain of Plymouth, 

and stamped on the floor, till his 

armor 
Clanged on the wall, where it hung, 

with a sound of sinister omen. 

4 6 



Miles Standish £f£ 

All his pent-up wrath burst forth in a 

sudden explosion, 
E'en as a hand-grenade, that scatters 

destruction around it. 
Wildly he shouted, and loud: "John 

Alden! you have betrayed me! 
Me, Miles Standish, your friend! have 

supplanted, defrauded, betrayed 

me! 
One of my ancestors ran his sword 

through the heart of Wat Tyler; 
Who shall prevent me from running my 

own through the heart of a traitor ? 
Yours is the greater treason, for yours 

is a treason to friendship! 
You, who lived under my roof, whom I 

cherished and loved as a brother; 
You, who have fed at my board, and 

drunk at my cup, to whose 

keeping 

47 



«£H The Courtship of 

I have intrusted my honor, my thoughts 

the most sacred and secret, — 
You too, Brutus! ah, woe to the name 

of friendship hereafter! 
Brutus was Caesar's friend, and you 

were mine, but henceforward 
Let there be nothing between us save 

war, and implacable hatred! " 



So spake the Captain of Plymouth, 

and strode about in the chamber, 
Chafing and choking with rage; like 

cords were the veins on his temples. 
But in the midst of his anger a man 

appeared at the doorway, 
Bringing in uttermost haste a message 

of urgent importance, 
Rumors of danger and war and hostile 

incursions of Indians! 

48 



Miles Standish £# 

Straightway the Captain paused, and, 

without further question or 

parley, 
Took from the nail on the wall his 

sword with its scabbard of iron, 
Buckled the belt round his waist, and, 

frowning fiercely, departed. 
Alden was left alone. He heard the 

clank of the scabbard 
Growing fainter and fainter, and dying 

away in the distance. 
Then he arose from his seat, and looked 

forth into the darkness, 
Felt the cool air blow on his cheek, 

that was hot with the insult, 
Lifted his eyes to the heavens, and, 

folding his hands as in child- 
hood, 
Prayed in the silence of night to the 

Father who seeth in secret, 

49 



^tk The Courtship of 

Meanwhile the choleric Captain 

strode wrathful away to the 

Council, 
Found it already assembled, impatiently 

waiting his coming; 
Men in the middle of life, austere and 

grave in deportment, 
Only one of them old, the hill that was 

nearest to heaven, 
Covered with snow, but erect, the ex- 
cellent Elder of Plymouth. 
God had sifted three kingdoms to 

find the wheat for this plant- 
ing, 
Then had sifted the wheat, as the 

living seed of a nation; 
So say the chronicles old, and such is 

the faith of the people! 
Near them was standing an Indian, 

in attitude stern and defiant, 

So 



Miles Standish H£ 

Naked down to the waist, and grim 

and ferocious in aspect; 
While on the table before them was 

lying unopened a Bible, 
Ponderous, bound in leather, brass- 
studded, printed in Holland, 
And beside it outstretched the skin of 

a rattlesnake glittered, 
Filled, like a quiver, with arrows: a 

signal and challenge of warfare, 
Brought by the Indian, and speaking 

with arrowy tongues of defiance. 
This Miles Standish beheld, as he 

entered, and heard them debating 
What were an answer befitting the 

hostile message and menace, 
Talking of this and of that, contriving, 

suggesting, objecting; 
One voice only for peace, and that 

the voice of the Elder, 

Si 



#4 The Courtship of 

Judging it wise and well that some at 

least were converted, 
Rather than any were slain, for this 

was but Christian behavior! 
Then out spake Miles Standish, the 

stalwart Captain of Plymouth, 
Muttering deep in his throat, for his 

voice was husky with anger, 
" What! do you mean to make war with 

milk and the water of roses ? 
Is it to shoot red squirrels you have 

your howitzer planted 
There on the roof of the church, or is 

it to shoot red devils ? 
Truly the only tongue that is under- 
stood by a savage 
Must be the tongue of fire that speaks 

from the mouth of the cannon! " 
Thereupon answered and said the 

excellent Elder of Plymouth, 

52 



Miles Standish H£ 

Somewhat amazed and alarmed at 

this irreverent language: 
u Not so thought Saint Paul, nor yet 

the other Apostles; 
Not from the cannon's mouth were 

the tongues of fire they spake with ! " 
But unheeded fell this mild rebuke on 

the Captain, 
Who had advanced to the table, and 

thus continued discoursing: 
M Leave this matter to me, for to me 

by right it pertaineth. 
War is a terrible trade; but in the 

cause that is righteous, 
Sweet is the smell of powder; and 

thus I answer the challenge! " 

Then from the rattlesnake's skin, 
with a sudden, contemptuous 
gesture, 

53 



<£H The Courtship of 

Jerking the Indian arrows, he filled 

it with powder and bullets 
Full to the very jaws, and handed it 

back to the savage, 
Saying, in thundering tones: "Here, 

take it! this is your answer! " 
Silently out of the room then glided 

the glistening savage, 
Bearing the serpent's skin, and seeming 

himself like a serpent, 
Winding his sinuous way in the dark 

to the depths of the forest. 



54 



Miles Standish H£ 



THE SAILING OF THE " MAYFLOWER 



JUST in the gray of the dawn, as the 
mists uprose from the meadows, 
There was a stir and a sound in the 

slumbering village of Plymouth; 
Clanging and clicking of arms, and the 

order imperative, " Forward! " 
Given in tone suppressed, a tramp of 

feet, and then silence. 
Figures ten, in the mist, marched 

slowly out of the village. 
Standish the stalwart it was, with eight 

of his valorous army, 
Led by their Indian guide, by Hobo- 

mok, friend of the white men, 

55 



#4 The Courtship of 

Northward marching to quell the sud- 
den revolt of the savage. 

Giants they seemed in the mist, or the 
mighty men of King David; 

Giants in heart they were, who be- 
lieved in God and the Bible, — 

Ay, who believed in the smiting of 
Midianites and Philistines. 

Over them gleamed far off the crimson 
banners of morning; 

Under them loud on the sands, the 
serried billows, advancing, 

Fired along the line, and in regular 
order retreated. 



Many a mile had they marched, when 
at length the village of Plymouth 
Woke from its sleep, and arose, intent 
on its manifold labors. 

56 



Miles Standish H£ 

Sweet was the air and soft; and slowly 

the smoke from the chimneys 
Rose over the roofs of thatch, and 

pointed steadily eastward; 
Men came forth from the doors, and 

paused and talked of the weather, 
Said that the wind had changed, and 

was blowing fair for the Mayflower; 
Talked of their Captain's departure, 

and all the dangers that menaced, 
He being gone, the town, and what 

should be done in his absence. 
Merrily sang the birds, and the tender 

voices of women 
Consecrated with hymns the common 

cares of the household. 
Out of the sea rose the sun, and the 

billows rejoiced at his coming; 
Beautiful were his feet on the purple 

tops of the mountains; 

57 



■£H The Courtship of 

Beautiful on the sails of the Mayflower 

riding at anchor, 
Battered and blackened and worn by 

all the storms of the winter. 
Loosely against her masts was hanging 

and flapping her canvas, 
Rent by so many gales, and patched 

by the hands of the sailors. 
Suddenly from her side, as the sun rose 

over the ocean, 
Darted a puff of smoke, and floated 

seaward; anon rang 
Loud over field and forest the cannon's 

roar, and the echoes 
Heard and repeated the sound, the 

signal-gun of departure! 
Ah! but with louder echoes replied 

the hearts of the people! 
Meekly, in voices subdued, the chapter 

was read from the Bible, 

58 



Miles Standish £# 

Meekly the prayer was begun, but 
ended in fervent entreaty! 

Then from their houses in haste came 
forth the Pilgrims of Plymouth, 

Men and women and children, all hurry- 
ing down to the seashore, 

Eager, with tearful eyes, to say farewell 
to the Mayflower, 

Homeward bound o'er the sea, and 
leaving them here in the desert. 

Foremost among them was Alden. 

All night he had lain without 

slumber, 
Turning and tossing about in the heat 

and unrest of his fever. 
He had beheld Miles Standish, who 

came back late from the council, 
Stalking into the room, and heard him 

mutter and murmur, 

59 



#=? The Courtship of 

Sometimes it seemed a prayer, and 

sometimes it sounded like swearing. 
Once he had come to the bed, and stood 

there a moment in silence; 
Then he had turned away, and said: 

" I will not awake him: 
Let him sleep on, it is best; for what 

is the use of more talking! " 
Then he extinguished the light, and 

threw himself down on his 

pallet, 
Dressed as he was, and ready to start 

at the break of the morning, — 
Covered himself with the cloak he 

had worn in his campaigns in 

Flanders, — 
Slept as a soldier sleeps in his bivouac, 

ready for action. 
But with the dawn he arose; in the 

twilight Alden beheld him 
60 



Miles Standish ^ 

Put on his corselet of steel, and all the 

rest of his armor, 
Buckle about his waist his trusty blade 

of Damascus, 
Take from the corner his musket, and 

so stride out of the chamber. 
Often the heart of the youth had 

burned and yearned to embrace 

him, 
Often his lips had essayed to speak, 

imploring for pardon; 
All the old friendship came back with 

its tender and grateful emotions; 
But his pride overmastered the nobler 

nature within him, — 
Pride, and the sense of his wrong, 

and the burning fire of the 

insult. 
So he beheld his friend departing in 

anger, but spake not, 
61 



#£ The Courtship of 

Saw him go forth to danger, perhaps 
to death, and he spake not! 

Then he arose from his bed, and heard 
what the people were saying, 

Joined in the talk at the door, with 
Stephen and Richard and Gilbert, 

Joined in the morning prayer, and in 
the reading of Scripture, 

And, with the others, in haste went 
hurrying down to the seashore, 

Down to the Plymouth Rock, that had 
been to their feet as a doorstep 

Into a world unknown, — the corner- 
stone of a nation! 



There with his boat was the Master, 
already a little impatient 
Lest he should lose the tide, or the 
wind might shift to the eastward, 
62 



Miles Standish H£ 

Square-built, hearty, and strong, with 

an odor of ocean about him, 
Speaking with this one and that, and 

cramming letters and parcels 
Into his pockets capacious, and mes- 
sages mingled together 
Into his narrow brain, till at last he 

was wholly bewildered. 
Nearer the boat stood Alden, with one 

foot placed on the gunwale, 
One still firm on the rock, and talking 

at times with the sailors, 
Seated erect on the thwarts, all ready 

and eager for starting. 
He too was eager to go, and thus put 

an end to his anguish, 
Thinking to fly from despair, that 

swifter than keel is or canvas, 
Thinking to drown in the sea the ghost 

that would rise and pursue him. 

63 



«£H The Courtship of 

But as he gazed on the crowd, he 
beheld the form of Priscilla 

Standing dejected among them, un- 
conscious of all that was passing. 

Fixed were her eyes upon his, as if she 
divined his intention, 

Fixed with a look so sad, so reproach- 
ful, imploring, and patient, 

That with a sudden revulsion his heart 
recoiled from its purpose, 

As from the verge of a crag, where one 
step more is destruction. 

Strange is the heart of man, with its 
quick, mysterious instincts! 

Strange is the life of man, and fatal or 
fated are moments, 

Whereupon turn, as on hinges, the 
gates of the wall adamantine! 

" Here I remain! " he exclaimed, as he 
looked at the heavens above him, 

6 4 



Miles Standish £# 

Thanking the Lord whose breath had 

scattered the mist and the madness, 
Wherein, blind and lost, to death he 

was staggering headlong. 
° Yonder snow-white cloud, that floats 

in the ether above me, 
Seems like a hand that is pointing, 

and beckoning over the ocean. 
There is another hand, that is not so 

spectral and ghost-like, 
Holding me, drawing me back, and 

clasping mine for protection. 
Float, O hand of cloud, and vanish 

away in the ether! 
Roll thyself up like a fist, to threaten 

and daunt me; I heed not 
Either your warning or menace, or any 

omen of evil! 
There is no land so sacred, no air so 

pure and so wholesome, 

65 



#s The Courtship of 

As is the air she breathes, and the soil 

that is pressed by her footsteps. 
Here for her sake will I stay, and like 

an invisible presence 
Hover around her forever, protecting, 

supporting her weakness; 
Yes! as my foot was the first that 

stepped on this rock at the landing, 
So with the blessing of God, shall it 

be the last at the leaving! " 



Meanwhile the Master alert, but 
with dignified air and important, 
Scanning with watchful eye the tide 

and the wind and the weather, 
Walked about on the sands, and the 

people crowded around him 
Saying a few last words, and enforcing 
his careful remembrance. 
66 



Miles Standish Hr 

Then, taking each by the hand, as if 

he were grasping a tiller, 
Into the boat he sprang, and in haste 

shoved off to his vessel, 
Glad in his heart to get rid of all this 

worry and flurry, 
Glad to be gone from a land of sand 

and sickness and sorrow, 
Short allowance of victual, and plenty 

of nothing but Gospel! 
Lost in the sound of the oars was the 

last farewell of the Pilgrims. 
O strong hearts and true! not one went 

back in the Mayflower ! 
No, not one looked back, who had set 

his hand to this ploughing! 



Soon were heard on board the shouts 
and songs of the sailors 

6 7 



#? The Courtship of 

Heaving the windlass round, and hoist- 
ing the ponderous anchor. 

Then the yards were braced, and all 
sails set to the westwind, 

Blowing steady and strong; and the 
Mayflower sailed from the harbor, 

Rounded the point of the Gurnet, and 
leaving far to the southward 

Island and cape of sand, and the 
Field of the First Encounter, 

Took the wind on her quarter, and stood 
for the open Atlantic, 

Borne on the send of the sea, and the 
swelling hearts of the Pilgrims. 



Long in silence they watched the 
receding sail of the vessel, 
Much endeared to them all, as some- 
thing living and human; 
68 



Miles Standish £# 



Then, as if filled with the spirit, and 

wrapt in a vision prophetic, 
Baring his hoary head, the excellent 

Elder of Plymouth 
Said, " Let us pray! " and they prayed, 

and thanked the Lord and took 

courage. 
Mournfully sobbed the waves at the base 

of the rock, and above them 
Bowed and whispered the wheat on 

the hill of death, and their kindred 
Seemed to awake in their graves, and 

to join in the prayer that they 

uttered. 
Sun-illumined and white, on the eastern 

verge of the ocean 
Gleamed the departing sail, like a 

marble slab in a graveyard; 
Buried beneath it lay forever all hope 

of escaping. 

6 9 



#? The Courtship of 

Lo! as they turned to depart, they saw 

the form of an Indian, 
Watching them from the hill; but while 

they spake with each other, 
Pointing with outstretched hands, and 

saying, " Look! " he had vanished. 
So they returned to their homes; but 

Alden lingered a little, 
Musing alone on the shore, and watch- 
ing the wash of the billows 
Round the base of the rock, and the 

sparkle and flash of the sunshine, 
Like the spirit of God, moving visibly 

over the waters. 



70 



Miles Standish H£ 



VI 

PRISCILLA 

nPHUS for a while he stood, and 
mused by the shore of the 
ocean, 
Thinking of many things, and most of 

all of Priscilla; 
And as if thought had the power to 

draw to itself, like the loadstone, 
Whatsoever it touches, by subtile laws 

of its nature, 
Lo! as he turned to depart, Priscilla 

was standing beside him. 

" Are you so much offended, you will 
not speak to me ? " said she. 

7i 



iH The Courtship of 

" Am I so much to blame, that yester- 
day, when you were pleading 

Warmly the cause of another, my heart, 
impulsive and wayward, 

Pleaded your own, and spake out, 
forgetful perhaps of decorum ? 

Certainly you can forgive me for speak- 
ing so frankly, for saying 

What I ought not to have said, yet 
now I can never unsay it; 

For there are moments in life, when the 
heart is so full of emotion, 

That if by chance it be shaken, or 
into its depths like a pebble 

Drops some careless word, it overflows, 
and its secret, 

Spilt on the ground like water, can never 
be gathered together. 

Yesterday I was shocked, when I 
heard you speak of Miles Standish, 
72 



Miles Standish ## 

Praising his virtues, transforming his 

very defects into virtues, 
Praising his courage and strength, and 

even his fighting in Flanders, 
As if by fighting alone you could win 

the heart of a woman, 
Quite overlooking yourself and the rest, 

in exalting your hero. 
Therefore I spake as I did, by an 

irresistible impulse. 
You will forgive me, I hope, for the 

sake of the friendship between 

us, 
Which is too true and too sacred to be 

so easily broken! " 
Thereupon answered John Alden, the 

scholar, the friend of Miles 

Standish: 
" I was not angry with you, with myself 

alone I was angry, 

73 



3H The Courtship of 

Seeing how badly I managed the matter 

I had in my keeping." 
" No! " interrupted the maiden, with 

answer* prompt and decisive; 
" No; you were angry with me, for 

speaking so frankly and freely. 
It was wrong, I acknowledge; for it is 

the fate of a woman 
Long to be patient and silent, to wait 

like a ghost that is speechless, 
Till some questioning voice dissolves 

the spell of its silence. 
Hence is the inner life of so many 

suffering women 
Sunless and silent and deep, like 

subterranean rivers 
Running through caverns of darkness, 

unheard, unseen, and unfruitful, 
Chafing their channels of stone, with 

endless and profitless murmurs." 

74 



Miles Standish H£ 

Thereupon answered John Alden, the 

young man, the lover of women : 
" Heaven forbid it, Priscilla; and truly 

they seem to me always 
More like the beautiful rivers that 

watered the garden of Eden, 
More like the river Euphrates, through 

deserts of Havilah flowing, 
Filling the land with delight, and 

memories sweet of the garden! " 
" Ah, by these words, I can see/' again 

interrupted the maiden, 
" How very little you prize me, or care 

for what I am saying. 
When from the depths of my heart, in 

pain and with secret misgiving, 
Frankly I speak to you, asking for 

sympathy only and kindness, 
Straightway you take up my words, that 

are plain and direct and in earnest, 

75 



#4 The Courtship of 

Turn them away from their meaning, 

and answer with flattering phrases. 
This is not right, is not just, is not 

true to the best that is in 

you; 
For I know and esteem you, and feel 

that your nature is noble> 
Lifting mine up to a higher, a more 

ethereal level. 
Therefore I value your friendship, 

and feel it perhaps the more 

keenly 
If you say aught that implies I am only 

as one among many, 
If you make use of those common and 

complimentary phrases 
Most men think so fine, in dealing and 

speaking with women, 
But which women reject as insipid, if 

not as insulting." 

7 6 



Miles Standish H£ 

Mute and amazed was Alden; and 

listened and looked at Priscilla, 
Thinking he never had seen her more 

fair, more divine in her beauty. 
He who but yesterday pleaded so 

glibly the cause of another, 
Stood there embarrassed and silent, 

and seeking in vain for an answer. 
So the maiden went on, and little 

divined or imagined 
What was at work in his heart, that 

made him so awkward and speech- 
less. 
" Let us, then, be what we are, and 

speak what we think, and in all 

things 
Keep ourselves loyal to truth, and the 

sacred professions of friendship. 
It is no secret I tell you, nor am I 

ashamed to declare it: 

77 



iH The Courtship of 

I have liked to be with you, to see you, 
to speak with you always. 

So I was hurt at your words, and a 
little affronted to hear you 

Urge me to marry your friend, though 
he were the Captain Miles Stan- 
dish, 

For I must tell you the truth: much 
more to me is your friendship 

Than all the love he could give, were he 
twice the hero you think him." 

Then she extended her hand, and 
Alden, who eagerly grasped it, 

Felt all the wounds in his heart, that 
were aching and bleeding so sorely, 

Healed by the touch of that hand, and 
he said, with a voice full of feel- 
ing: 

" Yes, we must ever be friends; and 
of all who offer you friendship 

78 



Miles Standish ¥& 

Let me be ever the first, the truest, the 
nearest and dearest! " 

Casting a farewell look at the glim- 
mering sail of the Mayflower 

Distant, but still in sight, and sinking 
below the horizon, 

Homeward together they walked, with 
a strange, indefinite feeling, 

That all the rest had departed and left 
them alone in the desert. 

But, as they went through the fields 
in the blessing and smile of the 
sunshine, 

Lighter grew their hearts, and Priscilla 
said very archly: 

" Now that our terrible Captain has 
gone in pursuit of the Indians, 

Where he is happier far than he would 
be commanding a household, 

79 



«£H The Courtship of 

You may speak boldly, and tell me of 
all that happened between you, 

When you returned last night, and 
said how ungrateful you found 
me." 

Thereupon answered John Alden, and 
told her the whole of the story, — 

Told her his own despair, and the dire- 
ful wrath of Miles Standish. 

Whereat the maiden smiled, and said 
between laughing and earnest, 

" He is a little chimney, and heated 
hot in a moment! " 

But as he gently rebuked her, and told 
her how he had suffered, — 

How he had even determined to sail 
that day in the Mayflower, 

And had remained for her sake, on 
hearing the dangers that threat- 
ened, — 

80 



Miles Standish *# 

All her manner was changed, and she 
said with a faltering accent, 

" Truly I thank you for this : how 
good you have been to me always! " 

Thus, as a pilgrim devout, who 
toward Jerusalem journeys, 

Taking three steps in advance, and one 
reluctantly backward, 

Urged by importunate zeal, and with- 
held by pangs of contrition; 

Slowly but steadily onward, receding 
yet ever advancing, 

Journeyed this Puritan youth to the 
Holy Land of his longings, 

Urged by the fervor of love, and with- 
held by remorseful misgivings. 



81 



«£H The Courtship of 



VII 

THE MARCH OF MILES STANDISH 

TV/T EANWHILE the stalwart Miles 
Standish was marching stead- 
ily northward, 

Winding through forest and swamp, 
and along the trend of the sea- 
shore, 

All day long, with hardly a halt, the 
fire of his anger 

Burning and crackling within, and the 
sulphurous odor of powder 

Seeming more sweet to his nostrils 
than all the scents of the forest. 

Silent and moody he went, and much 
he revolved his discomfort; 
82 



Miles Standish £# 

He who was used to success, and to 

easy victories always, 
Thus to be flouted, rejected, and laughed 

to scorn by a maiden, 
Thus to be mocked and betrayed by 

the friend whom most he had 

trusted! 
Ah! 'twas too much to be borne, and 

he fretted and chafed in his armor! 

" I alone am to blame," he muttered, 

" for mine was the folly. 
What has a rough old soldier, grown 

grim and gray in the harness, 
Used to the camp and its ways, to do 

with the wooing of maidens ? 
'Twas but a dream, — let it pass, — 

let it vanish like so many others! 
What I thought was a flower, is only a 

weed, and is worthless; 

83 



■£H The Courtship of 

Out of my heart will I pluck it, and 
throw it away, and hencefor- 
ward 

Be but a fighter of battles, a lover and 
wooer of dangers." 

Thus he revolved in his mind his sorry 
defeat and discomfort, 

While he was marching by day or 
lying at night in the forest, 

Looking up at the trees and the con- 
stellations beyond them. 

After a three days' march he came to 
an Indian encampment 

Pitched on the edge of a meadow, 
between the sea and the forest; 

Women at work by the tents, and war- 
riors, horrid with war-paint, 

Seated about a fire, and smoking and 
talking together; 

84 



Miles Standish H£ 

Who, when they saw from afar the 

sudden approach of the white men, 
Saw the flash of the sun on breastplate 

and sabre and musket, 
Straightway leaped to their feet, and 

two, from among them advancing, 
Came to parley with Standish, and offer 

him furs as a present: 
Friendship was in their looks, but in 

their hearts there was hatred. 
Braves of the tribe were these, and 

brothers, gigantic in stature, 
Huge as Goliath of Gath, or the 

terrible Og, king of Bashan; 
One was Pecksuot named, and the 

other was called Wattawamat. 
Round their necks were suspended their 

knives in scabbards of wampum, 
Two-edged, trenchant knives, with 

points as sharp as a needle. 

85 



«£H The Courtship of 

Other arms had they none, for they 

were cunning and crafty. 
" Welcome, English! " they said, — 

these wcrds they had learned from 

the traders 
Touching at times on the coast, to 

barter and chaffer for peltries. 
Then in their native tongue they began 

to parley with Standish, 
Through his guide and interpreter, 

Hobomok, friend of the white 

man, 
Begging for blankets and knives, but 

mostly for muskets and pow- 
der, 
Kept by the white man, they said, 

concealed, with the plague, in his 

cellars, 
Ready to be let loose, and destroy his 

brother the red man! 
8<? 



Miles Standish ## 

But when Standish refused, and said 

he would give them the Bible, 
Suddenly changing their tone, they 

began to boast and to bluster. 
Then Wattawamat advanced with a 

stride in front of the other, 
And, with a lofty demeanor, thus 

vauntingly spake to the Captain: 
" Now Wattawamat can see, by the 

fiery eyes of the Captain, 
Angry is he in his heart; but the heart 

of the brave Wattawamat 
Is not afraid at the sight. He was not 

born of a woman, 
But on a mountain, at night, from an 

oak-tree riven by lightning, 
Forth he sprang at a bound, with all 

his weapons about him, 
Shouting, ' Who is there here to fight 

with the brave Wattawamat ? ' " 

87 



«£H The Courtship of 

Then he unsheathed his knife, and, 

whetting the blade on his left 

hand, 
Held it aloft and displayed a woman's 

face on the handle, 
Saying, with bitter expression and look 

of sinister meaning: 
" I have another at home, with the face 

of a man on the handle; 
By and by they shall marry; and there 

will be plenty of children! " 

Then stood Pecksuot forth, self- 
vaunting, insulting Miles Standish; 
While with his fingers he patted the 

knife that hung at his bosom, 

Drawing it half from its sheath, and 

plunging it back, as he muttered, 

" By and by it shall see; it shall eat; 

ah, ha! but shall speak not! 

88 



Miles Standish £# 

This is the mighty Captain the white 
men have sent to destroy us! 

He is a little man; let him go and work 
with the women! " 



Meanwhile Standish had noted the 
faces and figures of Indians 

Peeping and creeping about from bush 
to tree in the forest, 

Feigning to look for game, with arrows 
set on their bow-strings, 

Drawing about him still closer and 
closer the net of their ambush. 

But undaunted he stood, and dissem- 
bled and treated them smoothly; 

So the old chronicles say, that were 
writ in the days of the fathers. 

But when he heard their defiance, the 
boast, the taunt and the insult, 

8 9 



#1 The Courtship of 

All the hot blood of his race, of Sir 
Hugh and of Thurston de Standish, 

Boiled and beat in his heart, and swelled 
in the veins of his temples. 

Headlong he leaped on the boaster, and, 
snatching his knife from its scab- 
bard, 

Plunged it into his heart, and, reeling 
backward, the savage 

Fell with his face to the sky, and a 
fiendlike fierceness upon it. 

Straight there arose from the forest 
the awful sound of the war- 
whoop, 

And, like a flurry of snow on the 
whistling wind of December, 

Swift and sudden and keen came a 
flight of feathery arrows. 

Then came a cloud of smoke, and out 
of the cloud came the lightning, 
90 



Miles Standish f# 

Out of the lightning thunder; and death 

unseen ran before it. 
Frightened the savages fled for shelter 

in swamp and in thicket, 
Hotly pursued and beset; but their 

sachem, the brave Wattawamat, 
Fled not; he was dead. Unswerving 

and swift had a bullet 
Passed through his brain, and he fell 

with both hands clutching the 

greensward, 
Seeming in death to hold back from his 

foe the land of his fathers. 

There on the flowers of the meadow 
the warriors lay, and above them, 

Silent, with folded arms, stood Hobo- 
mok, friend of the white man. 

Smiling at length he exclaimed to the 
stalwart Captain of Plymouth: 

9 1 






The Courtship of 



" Pecksuot bragged very loud, of his 

courage, his strength and his 

stature, — 
Mocked the great Captain, and called 

him a little man; but I see now 
Big enough have you been to lay him 

speechless before you! " 

Thus the first battle was fought 

and won by the stalwart Miles 

Standish. 
When the tidings thereof were brought 

to the village of Plymouth, 
And as a trophy of war the head of the 

brave Wattawamat 
Scowled from the roof of the fort, 

which at once was a church and a 

fortress, 
All who beheld it rejoiced, and praised 

the Lord, and took courage. 
92 



Miles Standish H£ 

Only Priscilla averted her face from 

this spectre of terror^ 
Thanking God in her heart that she 

had not married Miles Standish; 
Shrinking, fearing almost, lest, coming 

home from his battles, 
He should lay claim to her hand, as 

the prize and reward of his valor. 



93 



#t The Courtship of 



VIII 

THE SPINNING-WHEEL 

TV/TONTH after month passed away, 
and in autumn the ships ot 
the merchants 

Came with kindred and friends, with 
cattle and corn for the Pilgrims. 

All in the village was peace; the men 
were intent on their labors, 

Busy with hewing and building, with 
garden-plot and with merestead, 

Busy with breaking the glebe, and 
mowing the grass in the mead- 
ows, 

Searching the sea for its fish, and 
hunting the deer in the forest. 

94 



Miles Standish i# 

All in the village was peace; but at 

times the rumor of warfare 
Filled the air with alarm, and the 

apprehension of danger. 
Bravely the stalwart Standish was 

scouring the land with his 

forces, 
Waxing valiant in fight and defeating 

the alien armies, 
Till his name had become a sound of 

fear to the nations. 
Anger was still in his heart, but at 

times the remorse and contri- 
tion 
Which in nobler natures succeed the 

passionate outbreak, 
Game like a rising tide, that encounters 

the rush of a river, 
Staying its current awhile, but making 

it bitter and brackish. 

95 



<£H The Courtship of 

Meanwhile Alden at home had built 

him a new habitation, 
Solid, substantial, of timber rough- 
hewn from the firs of the forest. 
Wooden-barred was the door, and the 

roof was covered with rushes; 
Latticed the windows were, and the 

window-panes were of paper, 
Oiled to admit the light, while wind 

and rain were excluded. 
There too he dug a well, and around it 

planted an orchard: 
Still may be seen to this day some trace 

of the well and the orchard. 

Close to the house was the stall, where, 

i 

safe and secure from annoyance, 
Raghorn, the snow-white bull, that had 

fallen to Alden's allotment 
In the division of cattle, might rumi- 
nate in the night-time 

9 6 



Miles Standish f# 

Over the pastures he cropped, made 
fragrant by sweet pennyroyal. 



Oft when his labor was finished, with 

eager feet would the dreamer 
Follow the pathway that ran through 

the woods to the house of Priscilla, 
Led by illusions romantic and subtile 

deceptions of fancy, 
Pleasure disguised as duty, and love in 

the semblance of friendship. 
Ever of her he thought, when he 

fashioned the walls of his dwelling; 
Ever of her he thought, when he delved 

in the soil of his garden; 
Ever of her he thought, when he read 

in his Bible on Sunday 
Praise of the virtuous woman, as she 

is described in the Proverbs, — • 

97 



#| The Courtship of 



How the heart of her husband doth 

safely trust in her always, 
How all the days of her life she will 

do him good, and not evil, 
How she seeketh the wool and the flax 

and worketh with gladness, 
How she layeth her hand to the spindle 

and holdeth the distaff, 
How she is not afraid of the snow for 

herself or her household, 
Knowing her household are clothed 

with the scarlet cloth of her 

weaving! 

So as she sat at her wheel one after- 
noon in the Autumn, 

Alden, who opposite sat, and was watch- 
ing her dexterous fingers, 

As if the thread she was spinning were 
that of his life and his fortune, 

9 8 



Miles Standish i# 



After a pause in their talk, thus spake 

to the sound of the spindle. 
"Truly, Priscilla," he said, "when I 

see you spinning and spinning, 
Never idle a moment, but thrifty and 

thoughtful of others, 
Suddenly you are transformed, are 

visibly changed in a moment; 
You are no longer Priscilla, but Bertha 

the Beautiful Spinner." 
Here the light foot on the treadle grew 

swifter and swifter; the spindle 
Uttered an angry snarl, and the thread 

snapped short in her fingers; 
While the impetuous speaker, not heed- 
ing the mischief, continued: 
" You are the beautiful Bertha, the 

spinner, the queen of Helvetia; 
She whose story I read at a stall in the 

streets of Southampton, 

99 



-£H The Courtship of 

Who, as she rode on her palfrey, o'er 

valley and meadow and moun- 
tain, 
Ever was spinning her thread from a 

distaff fixed to her saddle. 
She was so thrifty and good, that her 

name passed into a proverb. 
So shall it be with your own, when the 

spinning-wheel shall no longer 
Hum in the house of the farmer, and 

fill its chambers with music. 
Then shall the mothers, reproving, 

relate how it was in their childhood, 
Praising the good old times, and the 

days of Priscilla the spinner! " 
Straight uprose from her wheel the 

beautiful Puritan maiden, 
Pleased with the praise of her thrift 

from him whose praise was the 

sweetest, 

ioo 



Miles Standish H£ 

Drew from the reel on the table a 

snowy skein of her spinning, 
Thus making answer, meanwhile, to 

the flattering phrases of Alden : 
" Come, you must not be idle; if I am 

a pattern for housewives, 
Show yourself equally worthy of being 

the model of husbands. 
Hold this skein on your hands, while I 

wind it, ready for knitting; 
Then who knows but hereafter, when 

fashions have changed and the 

manners, 
Fathers may talk to their sons of the 

good old times of John Alden! " 
Thus, with a jest and a laugh, the 

skein on his hands she ad- 
justed, 
He sitting awkwardly there, with his 

arms extended before him. 

101 



## The Courtship of 

She standing graceful, erect, and wind- 
ing the thread from his fingers, 

Sometimes chiding a little his clumsy 
manner of holding, 

Sometimes touching his hands, as she 
disentangled expertly 

Twist or knot in the yarn, unawares — 
for how could she help it ? — 

Sending electrical thrills through every 
nerve in his body. 

Lo! in the midst of this scene, a 

breathless messenger entered, 
Bringing in hurry and heat the terrible 

news from the village. 
Yes; Miles Standish was dead! — an 

Indian had brought them the 

tidings, — 
Slain by a poisoned arrow, shot down 

in the front of the battle, 
102 



Miles Standish *# 

Into an ambush beguiled, cut off with 

the whole of his forces; 
All the town would be burned, and all 

the people be murdered! 
Such were the tidings of evil that burst 

on the hearts of the hearers. 
Silent and statue-like stood Priscilla, 

her face looking backward 
Still at the face of the speaker, her 

arms uplifted in horror; 
But John Alden, upstarting, as if the 

barb of the arrow 
Piercing the heart of his friend had 

struck his own, and had sundered 
Once and forever the bonds that held 

him bound as a captive, 
Wild with excess of sensation, the awful 

delight of his freedom, 
Mingled with pain and regret, un- 
conscious of what he was doing, 
103 



#* The Courtship of 

Clasped, almost with a groan, the 
motionless form of Priscilla, 

Pressing her close to his heart, as 
forever his own, and exclaiming: 

" Those whom the Lord hath united, 
let no man put them asunder! " 



Even as rivulets twain, from distant 

and separate sources, 
Seeing each other afar, as they leap 

from the rocks, and pursuing 
Each one its devious path, but drawing 

nearer and nearer, 
Rush together at last, at their trysting- 

place in the forest; 
So these lives that had run thus far 

in separate channels, 
Coming in sight of each other, then 

swerving and flowing asunder, 
104 



Miles Standish H£ 



v^r 



Parted by barriers strong, but drawing 

nearer and nearer, 
Rushed together at last, and one was 

lost in the other. 



105 



g The Courtship of 



Tr* 



IX 

THE WEDDING-DAY 

T^ORTH from the curtain of clouds, 
from the tent of purple and 
scarlet, 

Issued the sun, the great High- 
Priest, in his garments resplen- 
dent, 

Holiness unto the Lord, in letters of 
light, on his forehead, 

Round the hem of his robe the golden 
bells and pomegranates. 

Blessing the world he came, and the 
bars of vapor beneath him 

Gleamed like a grate of brass, and 
the sea at his feet was a 
laver! 

106 



Miles Standish *# 

This was the wedding morn of 
Priscilla the Puritan maiden. 

Friends were assembled together; the 
Elder and Magistrate also 

Graced the scene with their presence, 
and stood like the Law and the 
Gospel, 

One with the sanction of earth and one 
with the blessing of heaven. 

Simple and brief was the wedding as 
that of Ruth and of Boaz. 

Softly the youth and the maiden 
repeated the words of be- 
trothal, 

Taking each other for husband and wife 
in the Magistrate's presence, 

After the Puritan way, and the laudable 
custom of Holland. 

Fervently then and devoutly, the excel- 
lent Elder of Plymouth 
107 



£H The Courtship of 

Prayed for the hearth and the home, that 
were founded that day in affection, 

Speaking of life and of death, and 
imploring Divine benedictions. 



Lo! when the service was ended, a 

form appeared on the threshold, 
Clad in armor of steel, a sombre and 

sorrowful figure! 
Why does the bridegroom start and 

stare at the strange apparition ? 
Why does the bride turn pale, and hide 

her face on his shoulder ? 
Is it a phantom of air, — a bodiless, 

spectral illusion ? 
Is it a ghost from the grave, that has 

come to forbid the betrothal ? 
Long had it stood there unseen, a guest 

uninvited, unwelcomed; 
108 



Miles Standish |# 

Over its clouded eyes there had passed 

at times an expression 
Softening the gloom and revealing the 

warm heart hidden beneath them, 
As when across the sky the driving 

rack of the rain cloud 
Grows for a moment thin, and betrays 

the sun by its brightness. 
Once it had lifted its hand, and moved 

its lips, but was silent, 
As if an iron will had mastered the 

fleeting intention, 
But when were ended the troth and the 

prayer and the last benediction, 
Into the room it strode, and the people 

beheld with amazement 
Bodily there in his armor Miles Stan- 
dish, the Captain of Plymouth! 
Grasping the bridegroom's hand, he 

said with emotion, " Forgive me! 
109 



#? The Courtship of 

I have been angry and hurt, — too long 

have I cherished the feeling; 
I have been cruel and hard, but now, 

thank God! it is ended. 
Mine is the same hot blood that leaped 

in the veins of Hugh Standish, 
Sensitive, swift to resent, but as swift 

in atoning for error. 
Never so much as now was Miles 

Standish the friend of John Alden." 
Thereupon answered the bridegroom: 

" Let all be forgotten between us, — 
All save the dear old friendship, and 

that shall grow older and dearer! " 
Then the Captain advanced, and, 

bowing, saluted Priscilla, 
Gravely, and after the manner of old- 
fashioned gentry in England, 
Something of camp and of court, of 

town and of country, commingled, 
no 



Miles Standish 



^«T 



Wishing her joy of her wedding, and 

loudly lauding her husband. 
Then he said with a smile: " I should 

have remembered the adage, — 
If you would be well served, you must 

serve yourself; and moreover, 
No man can gather cherries in Kent 

at the season of Christmas ? " 

Great was the people's amazement, 
and greater yet their rejoicing 

Thus to behold once more the sunburnt 
face of their Captain, 

Whom they had mourned as dead; 
and they gathered and crowded 
about him, 

Eager to see him and hear him, forget- 
ful of bride and of bridegroom, 

Questioning, answering, laughing, and 
each interrupting the other, 



•tH The Courtship of 

Till the good Captain declared, being 
quite overpowered and bewildered, 

He had rather by far break into an 
Indian encampment, 

Than come again to a wedding to which 
he had not been invited. 



Meanwhile the bridegroom went forth 
and stood with the bride at the 
doorway, 

Breathing the perfumed air of that 
warm and beautiful morning. 

Touched with autumnal tints, but 
lonely and sad in the sunshine, 

Lay extended before them the land of 
toil and privation; 

There were the graves of the dead, 
and the barren waste of the sea- 
shore, 

112 



Miles Standish £# 

There the familiar fields, the groves of 

pine, and the meadows; 
But to their eyes transfigured, it seemed 

as the Garden of Eden, 
Filled with the presence of God, whose 

voice was the sound of the ocean. 



Soon was their vision disturbed by 
the noise and stir of departure, 

Friends coming forth from the house, 
and impatient of longer delaying, 

Each with his plan for the day, and the 
work that was left uncompleted. 

Then from a stall near at hand, amid 
exclamations of wonder, 

Alden the thoughtful, the careful, so 
happy, so proud of Priscilla, 

Brought out his snow-white bull, obey- 
ing the hand of its master, 

"3 



-£H The Courtship of 

Led by a cord that was tied to an iron 
ring in its nostrils, 

Covered with crimson cloth, and a 
cushion placed for a saddle. 

She should not walk, he said, through 
the dust and heat of the noon- 
day; 

Nay, she should ride like a queen, not 
plod along like a peasant. 

Somewhat alarmed at first, but reas- 
sured by the others, 

Placing her hand on the cushion, her 
foot in the hand of her hus- 
band, 

Gayly, with joyous laugh, Priscilla 
mounted her palfrey. 

'' Nothing is wanting now," he said 
with a smile, " but the distaff; 

Then you would be in truth my queen, 
my beautiful Bertha! " 

114 



Miles Standish f# 

Onward the bridal procession now 

moved to their new habitation. 
Happy husband and wife, and friends 

conversing together. 
Pleasantly murmured the brook, as 

they crossed the ford in the 

forest, 
Pleased with the image that passed, like 

a dream of love from its bosom, 
Tremulous-floating in air, o'er the 

depths of the azure abysses. 
Down through the golden leaves the 

sun was pouring his splendors, 
Gleaming on purple grapes, that, from 

branches above them suspended, 
Mingled their odorous breath with 

the balm of the pine and the fir- 
tree, 
Wild and sweet as the clusters that grew 

in the valley of Eshcol. 

"5 



■£H The Courtship of Miles Standish 



Like a picture it seemed of the primi- 
tive, pastoral ages, 

Fresh with the youth of the world, and 
recalling Rebecca and Isaac, 

Old and yet ever new, and simple and 
beautiful always, 

Love immortal and young in the endless 
succession of lovers. 

So through the Plymouth woods passed 
onward the bridal procession. 



THE END. 



116 



Remarque Edition of 
Literary Masterpieces 
viniform with this 
volume v^ v^ v^ v^ 



i Sonnets from the Portuguese 

By Elizabeth Barrett Browning. 

2 Virginibus Puerisque 

By Robert Louis Stevenson. 

3 Friendship and Love 

By Ralph Waldo Emerson 

4 Heroism and Character 

By Ralph Waldo Emerson. 

5 Poor Richard's Almanac 

By Benjamin Franklin. 

6 The School for Scandal 

By Sheridan. 

7 Destructions of Pompeii 

By Pliny and Bulwer. 

8 Sir Roger de Coverley Papers 

By Addison. 

9 Thoughts of Marcus Aurelius 

Selections. 
io Lord Chesterfield's Letters 
Selections. 

1 1 Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam 

12 Milton 

By Lord Macaulay. 



#4 Remarque Series 



13 Enoch Arden 

By Alfred, Lord Tennyson. 

14 Rip Van Winkle and the Legend of 

Sleepy Hollow 
By Washington Irving. 

1 5 Rochefoucauld's Maxims 

16 Rab and His Friends 

By Dr. John Brown. 

17 She Stoops to Conquer 

By Oliver Goldsmith. 

18 Old Christmas 

By Washington Irving. 

19 Vision of Sir Launfal 

By James Russell Lowell, 

20 Leaves of Grass 

Selections. By Walt Whitman. 

21 Elegy and Other Poems 

By Thomas Gray. 

22 Sweetness and Light 

By Matthew Arnold. 

23 Golden Thoughts 

By Archbishop Fenelon. 

24 Wit and Wisdom 

By Sidney Smith. 

25 A Christmas Carol 

By Charles Dickens. 

26 Will o' the Mill and Biographical Sketch 

By R. L. Stevenson. 

27 Men and Women 

By Robert Browning. 

28 Napoleon Addresses and Anecdotes 

29 Passion in the Desert, and an Episode* 

in the Reign of Terror. Selected 
Prose Works of Honore de Balzac 



Remarque Series £# 



30 Poems of Sentiment 

By Byron. 

31 Some Fruits of Solitude. Reflections 

and Maxims 
By William Penn. 

32 Letters to a Young Man About Town 

By William Makepeace Thackeray. 

33 Golden Wings. A Prose Romance and 

a Poem 
By William Morris. 

34 Selected Poems 

By John Boyle O'Reilly. 

35 The Discourses of Epictetus 

Selections. 

36 Evangeline 

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 

37 The Holy Grail 

By Alfred, Lord Tennyson. 

38 Atala 

By Francois Rene Auguste Chateaubri- 
and. 

39 Armande 

By Edmond and Jules de Goncourt. 

40 Corsair and Lara 

By Lord Byron. 

41 The Gold Bug 

By Edgar Allan Poe. 

42 Juliet and Romeo 

From the Italian of Luigi da Porto. 

43 L'Arlesienne 

By Alphonse Daudet. 

44 Manon Lescaut. Vol. I. 

By Abbe Prevost. 

45 Manon Lescaut. Vol. II. 



-?r? 



Remarque Series 



46 Paul and Virginia 

By Bernardin de St. Pierre. 

47 Peter Schlemihl 

By Adelbert von Chamisso. 

48 Werther 

By J. W. von Goethe. 

49 Undine 

By Friedrich, Baron de La Motte-Fou* 
que. 

50 Tales of a Wayside Inn 

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 

51 King of the Golden River, The 

By John Ruskin. 

52 Love Letters of a Violinist 

By Eric Mackay. 

53 Sketches of Young Couples 

By Charles Dickens. 

54 Man Without a Country, The 

By Rev. Edward Everett Hale. 

55 Snow-Bound 

By John Greenleaf Whittier. 

56 Salome 

By Oscar Wilde. 

57 Ballad of Reading Gaol, The 

By Oscar Wilde. 

58 Sesame and Lilies 

By John Ruskin. 

59 Poems from Punch. Vol. I. 

Selected by Rev. E. Sims. 

60 Poems from Punch. Vol. II. 

With an introduction by Arthur Waugh. 

61 Courtship of Miles Standish, The 

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 
Other Titles in Preparation 



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